Bar fined £2,000 after out of date food is found in kitchens

Published on Thursday 26 November 2009 08:37

A BAR has been fined £2,000 after inspectors found fermenting gravy, slimy tuna and other out of date food in its kitchens.

Biblos, on the corner of Chambers Street and South Bridge, was fined after food hygiene inspectors paid a surprise visit earlier this year.

Among the finds listed in their report were gravy so out of date it was bubbling and fermenting, defrosted tuna with a "slimy brown/green appearance" and raw haddock fillets which inspectors agreed smelled "off". Ham, sausages and chilli dishes were also found to be out of date.

It is the first time a restaurant in Edinburgh has been convicted for failing to rotate its stock and keep it within date. The bar was also fined for failing to ensure that food was being protected against contamination likely to render it unfit for human consumption.

Inspectors found an open pan of chilli being stored beneath two dispensers which contained chemical cleaning fluids. And kitchen staff had put utensils which had been used for both raw and cooked food into tubs of lukewarm water, ready to be re-used without proper cleaning.

The bar is run by Festival Inns Limited, which operates a string of bars and hotels around the Capital, although it was last month reported to have put Biblos on the market for offers over 1.1m. The firm pleaded guilty to two separate charges under food hygiene regulations and was fined 1,000 for each offence.

City environment leader Councillor Robert Aldridge said: "Residents and visitors to Edinburgh are entitled to expect the highest standards of food hygiene when they eat in the city and it's important for them to have confidence that they can eat out safely. This sends a clear message to all food business operators that they must adhere to food hygiene requirements or face the consequences."

The case, which was heard in court on 13 November, followed the inspectors' visit on 12 May.

A spokeswoman for Biblos said: "We take the health and safety of our customers very seriously and appropriate and immediate action was taken. This is the first such incident in 12 years of trading and, with new procedures now in place, we can ensure the highest level of customer service and safety."

BROUGHT TO BOOK

WHAT inspectors found in the Biblos kitchen on 12 May:

&#149 Defrosted tuna dated 7 May which had a slimy brown/green appearance

&#149 Raw haddock fillets with a use-by date of 9 May, which both officers noted was distinctly off-smelling

&#149 Gravy with a use-by date of 4 May. The gravy was bubbling as it had reached a fermentation stage

&#149 Ham with a use-by date of 7 May

&#149 Sausages with a use-by date of 8 May

&#149 A large container of chicken chilli with a use-by date of 11 May

&#149 Vegetable chilli with a use-by date of 11 May